Members of the Matlock Luncheon Club enjoyed a festive lunch on Thursday at The Peak Edge Hotel. After tucking into turkey and Christmas pudding, Barry Colenso, gave a hugely entertaining talk on how he helped to create Prince William and Catherine’s wedding cake in 2011. Barry has a wealth of experience spanning forty years having worked in the culinary and chocolate industry. His previous roles have included that of Master Chocolatier at Thornton’s and he has had the privilege of baking cakes for the Royals and making Easter eggs for Princes William and Harry.
With four weeks to go before the Royal Wedding, Barry received a clandestine call from McVitie’s asking for his help with a chocolate sculpture. He was soon to learn that he was to help develop and create William and Catherine’s chocolate wedding cake based on William’s favourite chocolate tiffin recipe. The cake was to contain over 12Kg of chocolate and 1700 McVitie’s Rich Tea biscuits. Barry personally handmade the white chocolate decorations which consisted of dahlias (signifying love) and African vine leaves (to signify the location where William proposed to Catherine). Two thousand pieces of cake were required for the lucky wedding guests which had to pass the ‘frock taste test’! In the end all the individual elements for two cakes were made and conveyed to Buckingham palace in two vans following two different routes, just in case of kidnap or some other calamitous event! After passing security at the Palace, the final assembly of the masterpiece took place on a £9 million gold platter! A truly mouth-watering achievement!
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